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The Feinstein Institute for Legal Service is the hub of public interest activities at RWUSOL, and it has been an eventful spring semester.
The APIL Auction was held on February 26th, and it turned out to be a smashing success. Students, faculty, staff, judges and lawyers mingled at the elegant Federal Reserve in Providence. The event raised over $17,000 to support students who will work at public interest jobs this summer. Auction proceeds supplement the $50,000 provided by the Law School and University President Roy Nirschel for these valuable, hands-on experiences. Last year, 28 students...

It is hard to believe that the Class of 2012 was attending orientation only 9 months ago, although it seems as though it were 9 weeks or 9 days ago. We have spent a great deal of time learning points of law, sweating through the Socratic method, and fielding one set of exams (not to mention legal writing assignments). Throughout this process we have also made lots of friends, and had excellent times with one another.
Even with the exuberance of being finished with classes, there are still two hurdles looming to the summer, final exams and the law review competition. As with last semester, and...

The Diversity Symposium Dinner is a unique program that brings lawyers, judges, law profs, and law students together with minority high school and college students for an evening of discussion on important legal issues. The event is a key part of out “pipeline efforts,” exposing young people from underrepresented populations to the possibility of a career in the law. Last week’s program, our 7th, was sold out, with the largest number of high school attendees ever. Many thanks to Lydia Hanhardt, our Director of Diversity, and Lorraine Lalli, our Dean of Students, for...

When you graduate from law school, you do so in regalia. Regalia, in turns out, means a long black robe with purple velvet panels, a "hood", which is actually more of a cape, covered in the colors of your school (blue and gold, in RWU's case), and a tam. A tam is a black velvet, wide, UFO-like hat with an affixed golden tassel. While the point may be for us to look dignified, I find it impossible to believe that the result of tam and robe-wearing will be anything less than a bunch of ludicrous, Facebook-worthy photos.
Yet I love my tam. When I picked up my regalia I was Christmas-...

This is truly hard to believe...on Monday at 4pm I will be done attending classes for the foreseeable future. Despite taking some time off between undergrad and law school this is the first time I will finish a year of school with no set plans to start again. It is both exciting and overwhelming. In the next month I will submit my graduation writing requirement paper, take a few finals, pack up my apartment, start my bar prep classes, GRADUATE, and move my stuff to a new state! Whew, I'm tired just thinking about it.
As I was sitting in my first class at RWU Law in August 2007 I hardly...

I remember back to the days where I didn't know what being a law student actually entailed. I was so excited about everything. The new way of learning, the new material, the new professors; meeting my new classmates - basically I was excited about anything and everything that had to do with being in law school. (You can ask anyone that knows me about how much of a geek I was - I even read "How to Succeed in Law School" books while vacationing in Greece the summer before my 1L year.)
Boy, those were the days. The days where I was blissfully ignorant of the way being a...

I am supposed to be getting a midterm paper back today. I have a million things to do (nevermind the fact my Spring Break started at 10:15 this morning), but I am sitting at my computer obsessed with checking TWEN every five minutes to see if my corrected paper has been returned yet. Why am I this compulsive when it comes to grades? I am not a very patient person when it comes to results - I like to know exactly where I stand as soon as possible. However, I keep trying to rationalize with myself that it will come in when it comes in. Checking the site every five...

One of the most important decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States so far this term is Padilla v. Kentucky, in which the Supreme Court ruled, 7-2, that a criminal defense attorney’s failure to advise a client about the immigration consequences of a guilty plea constitutes ineffective assistance of counsel. The Court reasoned that as our immigration laws have imposed increasingly harsh consequences for criminal convictions, defense counsel cannot hide behind the notion that deportation is merely a “collateral” consequence of a criminal conviction; rather, defense...

It is generally recognized that there are two student organizations that represent the pinnacle of accomplishment for law students, the law review and the moot court board. Both of these venerable institutions use rigorous screening to select membership from students in their second year, and then there is another round of vetting for selecting the leadership. Another key group, one that represents all students, is the Student Bar Association (SBA). Below is the “management” for the Roger Williams University Law Review, the Roger Williams Moot Court Board, and the...

This week Professor Ruskell and Dean Lalli held an information for 1Ls and 2Ls about preparing for the bar exam and what it was all about. It was extremely informative to hear about the differences in manner different states administer the bar exam and paying for both prep classes, living and the admissions itself. It is a nice feeling to know that our administrators are already concerned about us being prepared to take the next step in accessing our chosen career
I guess law school is only the penultimate step in becoming an attorney, because that isn't stressful enough. :-)